US PATENT SUBCLASS 411 / 134
.~.~ Means holding member to bolt, nut or substructure prior to use

Current as of: June, 1999
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411 /   HD   EXPANDED, THREADED, DRIVEN, HEADED, TOOL-DEFORMED, OR LOCKED-THREADED FASTENER

81  DF  THREADED FASTENER LOCKED TO A DISCREET STRUCTURE (E.G., PLATE, RAIL, WHEEL) {13}
132  DF  .~ Lock washer-type member located between substructure and bolt head or nut {8}
134.~.~ Means holding member to bolt, nut or substructure prior to use {1}
135  DF  .~.~.~> By discrete element

DEFINITION

Classification: 411/134

Means holding member to bolt, nut or substructure prior to use:

(under subclass 132) Device which includes means for retaining the member to the bolt or the nut or the substructure in approximately the position it will occupy

subsequent to the assembly of at least two of those three components with one another.

(1) Note. Preassembly represents an effort to insure that the member (e.g., a washer) will be in the right place (e.g., on a bolt) at the right time.

(2) Note. Preassembly with a bolt frequently is accomplished by forming, or completing the formation of (e.g., bringing the thread's crest to its full diameter), the bolt's thread after the member has been associated with (e.g., placed upon the shank, adjacent the head of) the bolt.

(3) Note. While the member of this subclass is, in most instances, free to rotate relative to the bolt, nut or substructure with which it has been preassembled until such time as that bolt, nut or substructure is tightened against some other one of the components, occasionally it is found that the type of structural engagement involved in the preassembly is of a nature which precludes relative rotation.

(4) Note. It is sometimes found in the art of this subclass, especially in the instance of the preassembly, with a bolt, of a member which has variations in its axial dimension, such as a lock washer with twisted teeth, that the bolt is so proportioned or structured that the maximum extent to which it can be tightened during assembly is somewhat less than the extent at which it would flatten the washer's teeth into the plane of the remainder of the washer, thus, avoiding the loss of locking efficiency on the part of the teeth.